TBJ
JPEN

Speakers

Meet the Speakers

From deep in the Amazon to Europe's historic cities and the cutting edge of Asia — 10 changemakers who embody “new ways for the world to be,” beyond borders and titles, will join you on this cross-border journey.

Index

Phase 1 · Meet the Wisdom

Phase 2 · Live Borderless

★ Supervisor · Program Design

Phase 1

Meet the Wisdom

Wako Kudeken
Day 1 / 5

Wako Kudeken

CEO, Smoooth Inc. / Founder & Host, TBJ

“What Crossing Borders Brings — The Moment Possibility Opens Up”

Born in Okinawa and raised in Hawaii as a child, Wako has spent years exploring what happiness and true abundance mean — a quest rooted in her experiences after returning to Japan. During university she worked at the gourmet app TERIYAKI, FiNC Technologies and DeNA, and after graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University she joined Accenture in 2017. In 2021 she founded Smoooth Inc. She leads The Borderless Journey (TBJ), an experiential online program in which participants meet leaders from around the world and move beyond their own assumptions. Alongside TBJ — where selected next-generation student leaders learn side by side with executives — she runs programs such as TBJ for Woman, which promotes gender diversity and women's advancement. Drawing on field research in more than 36 countries, from Northern Europe to South America, she brings the realities of the world, and connections with the people shaping it, back to Japan.

Website · smoooth.co.jp

Instagram · @wakokudeken

Substack · @wakokudeken

Tomohiro Hamakawa
Day 2

Tomohiro Hamakawa

Co-founder & Chief Exploration Officer, Earth Company / Based in Indonesia

“Rethinking What Abundance Means”

After graduating from Harvard University, Tomohiro worked for an NGO on the Tibetan Plateau, then earned a master's degree from the Harvard Kennedy School. Following roles at the UK's Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the international development NGO Kopernik and the World Bank in Bangladesh, he now specializes in social innovation, impact evaluation and sustainability education. In 2014 he was named one of the "Unsung Heroes of Compassion" by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. He is a former Project Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo and co-founder of Mana Earthly Paradise, the first B Corp-certified hotel in Southeast Asia. He won the "Social Good Catapult" at ICC Summit KYOTO 2025.

Website · Earth Company

Noriaki Imai
Day 3

Noriaki Imai

Chair, D×P (Certified NPO)

“Living Within a Cycle of Mutual Support”

Noriaki became involved in peace activism while still in high school, and in 2004 he was taken hostage by an armed group in Iraq while on his way to deliver humanitarian aid. After returning to Japan, determined to create spaces where young people's voices reach society, he founded the nonprofit D×P. He built support systems for students at correspondence high schools and young people from low-income households, and launched Yukisaki Chat, a counseling service delivered through LINE. In 2020 he expanded online support to address youth isolation, building a nationwide network across education and social welfare. He is working toward a society that leaves no one behind.

Website · D×P (NPO)

note · @noriakiimai_dxp

Narcisa Mashienta
Day 4

Narcisa Mashienta

Founder, ikiama nukuri / Indigenous Leader from the Amazon

“Learning How to Live from the Wisdom of the Amazon's Indigenous Peoples”

Born into the Shuar people of the Ecuadorian Amazon, Narcisa learned the wisdom of the forest and the tradition of dreaming from early childhood. As a women's leader in her region, she has helped run her community and passed on the knowledge of living in harmony with nature to the next generation. Working with the international organization Pachamama Alliance, she leads dialogues around the world that share Indigenous perspectives. She spearheads projects supporting women's independence, nurturing new forms of leadership while protecting traditional culture. Today, grounded in the spiritual culture of the Achuar, she continues to create places of learning that reconnect people with nature.

Pachamama Alliance · pachamama.org

Cristina Serrano
Day 4

Cristina Serrano

Facilitator & Interpreter Supporting Amazonian Indigenous Peoples and Bridging Cultures

“Learning How to Live from the Wisdom of the Amazon's Indigenous Peoples”

Drawn to the Indigenous cultures of Latin America from a young age, Cristina studied social sciences and international cooperation at university. After graduating she worked on international projects in education and community support, eventually extending her work to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Collaborating with women leaders of the Achuar people, she has designed programs that preserve traditional culture and empower women. She advances learning and community-building centered on dialogue with nature, both locally and internationally, serving as a bridge that carries Indigenous wisdom to the wider world. Today she continues to work alongside Achuar women leaders on initiatives that integrate culture, education and conservation.

Phase 2

Live Borderless

Ryuji Nakatake
Day 6

Ryuji Nakatake

CEO, TEAMBOX Inc. / Service Manager, Japanese Olympic Committee

“Growing Your Capacity as a Human Being”

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Ryuji studied at Waseda University's School of Human Sciences, where he captained the rugby club to a runner-up finish in the All-Japan University Championship. After graduating he joined Mitsubishi Research Institute, and later earned a master's in sociology from the University of Leicester in the UK. In 2006 he became head coach of Waseda University's rugby club, leading it to two consecutive national university championships. In 2010 he became Coaching Director of the Japan Rugby Football Union, serving as head coach of the U20 Japan national team and as interim head coach of the Japan national team. He founded TEAMBOX Inc. in 2014 and, in 2018, the general incorporated association Sports Coaching Japan, which he leads as Representative Director.

Website · learn to UNLEARN / TEAMBOX

Books · Winning Culture, How to Grow Yourself, Unlearn Strategy (supervising translator), and more (in Japanese)

Stefan Merckelbach
Day 7Hybrid

Stefan Merckelbach

Author on Source Principles / Philosopher-Manager / Based in Switzerland

“Becoming the Source and Setting Things in Motion”

A native of Fribourg, Stefan immersed himself in the study of philosophy at the Universities of Fribourg and Geneva. He then resolved to put philosophy to work as a practitioner rather than as a theorist. In the early days of the internet he led the consulting business of an IT company, and in 2001 he founded Ordinata. Along the way he has also founded a primary school and been active as a practitioner in several other organizations.

Website · Ordinata

Book · Source Principles: Introduction + Exploration Guide (Japanese edition, Eiji Press)

Moriko Kira
Day 8Hybrid

Moriko Kira

Moriko Kira architect / Professor, BeCAT, Graduate School of Kyushu University / Based in the Netherlands

“Designing Places That Connect People and Cultures”

Born in Tokyo in 1965, Moriko completed a master's in architectural engineering at Waseda University's Graduate School of Science and Engineering. In 1996 she founded moriko kira architect in Amsterdam. From 1998 to 2003 she worked as an architect at the Government Buildings Agency of the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. She served on Amsterdam's municipal design review committee from 2004 to 2010, was a visiting professor at Kobe Design University from 2010 to 2019, and a specially invited professor at Meiji University from 2022 to 2025. She has been a professor at Kyushu University's graduate school since 2022.

Book · Learning from a Small Dutch Village: Community That Begins with Care (Gakugei Shuppansha, 2025, in Japanese)

Website · moriko kira architect

Satomi Uno
Day 9

Satomi Uno

CEO, Clarityian Inc.

“Unlocking Your Inner Potential — Your Strengths Are Already Within You”

For more than 15 years, Satomi has worked on next-generation and high-potential leadership development at major companies, helping develop the capabilities of over 5,000 leaders. She supports the design of talent strategy, succession planning and talent management. She holds multiple credentials, including Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, certified coach in applied positive psychology and CTI Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, and has systematized the Neuroposience® method, grounded in positive psychology and neuroscience. Her work centers on corporate training, executive coaching and talent development consulting.

Website · Clarityian Inc.

★ Supervisor

Program Supervisor

Yohei Kato
SupervisorOverall program design

Yohei Kato

Adult Developmental Scholar / Based in Groningen, the Netherlands

See the main page for a message from our supervisor

After graduating from the Faculty of Commerce and Management at Hitotsubashi University, Yohei worked in international tax consulting at Deloitte Tohmatsu. He then earned an MA in Psychology focused on developmental psychology and integral theory, along with a certification in developmental assessment, from John F. Kennedy University in the US. At the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, he earned an MSc in Psychology focused on talent development and an MSc in Evidence-Based Education. Based in Groningen, he advises on the development of individuals, organizations and society from the perspective of adult development.

Website · School of Adult Development

Courses · Yohei Kato Programs

note · @yoheikato1021

Books · A Prescription for a Growth-Fatigued Society Through Adult Development Theory (2023), The Growth of Capability Through Adult Development Theory, and many more (in Japanese)

Apply for Season 2

The world as your mirror —
a journey across borders

Apply early (early-bird until Nov 15)